Good morning,
While the first day of the week is a celebration for those of us who have lived centuries beyond the death of Jesus, it was a scene of fear and pain for those who were still in shock and overwhelmed by confusion. Nothing was going the way they had planned. Even though the women came running with the news that Jesus was alive, and solid saints came back to Jerusalem with the news that they had talked to Jesus, fear still controlled the dark night of their souls. Suddenly Jesus himself was there, and he lovingly said “Peace be with you.” They thought that he was a ghost. Then he asked “Why are you frightened?” “Why are your hearts filled with doubt”?(Luke 24:36-38) They saw Jesus, they heard Jesus, they even touched Jesus, but only when Jesus opened their minds to the scriptures did things begin to make sense. I get the feeling that those of us who call ourselves Christians, in our generation, are far more like those early believers than we realize. We are surrounded in our world by an ever increasing anger towards those who would dare to follow and obey the Jesus of the Bible. We have been seduced by leaders who encourage us to disrespect the narrow road and instead become more and more like the lost world around us. We are taught not to offend and are cowed by stories of what happens to people who take their relationship with Jesus too seriously.
This really isn’t a new problem when we look at the bigger picture. Isaiah, speaking for God over 2,700 years ago, wrote in Isaiah 43, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.” Back then the international situation was like a boiling pot that was spilling out all around them. The Lord of the Universe lovingly assured those who loved him that they could live with inner peace. He assured them and us that he has called us by name because we are his. No matter what is happening in the world around us, God’s family comes under the special care of the God who always keeps his word. He made it clear that when we go through deep waters, He would be with us. He assured us that when we go through rivers of difficulty, we will not drown. When the oppressors oppress us he tells us, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. It seems that as the pressure builds up we forget whose we are and why he has given us eternal life. Somehow when we celebrate that Jesus is alive on Easter Sunday we forget that he is also our Lord, fully in charge of each of our lives. We know him as our God, and the Holy God of Israel, but we forget that he is our Savior who actually is there to save us no matter how challenging the situation. Dear Lord, help us not to forget who you are on a day by day, challenge by challenge, life lived under your control.
Isaiah 43: 1 - - - “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. 2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
Roy Wisner
